Life Altering Moments
by Velvet Laughter
Summary: One shots, mostly about Parker, some will be about the rest of the crew to though :) hope you enjoy!
1. Life Altering Moments

Hellllo! Its been awhile! But you know that itch ya get? You just need to write something, it nags and nags and nags, even if you don't really know what 'it' is? Yea that hit me, this is the result of that collision, so I hope you enjoy it :) Feel free to review if you wish. But as long as you enjoy it that's all that really matters right?!

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She was goofy, crazy, sometimes sullen, occasionally spooked, but never scared. Not since she was a child, at any rate, and she liked to pretend she had locked those memories in a box and thrown away the key. She most certainly didn't cry. Well...at least not very often, on the border of never. The last time she could actually remember having cried, was the day her brother had died. It was also the last time she remembered truly feeling fear. Fear for her brother, in that split second before the car hit him. Fear for her future, what would tie her to the world of sanity now? He was the only thing that got her through those early years in foster care.

And now, her life had changed again. And she just didn't know how to deal. So she did something she did well. She found the highest building she could, set up a harness rig, and stood on the edge of it, waiting for just the right moment.

The wind was strong, but she found her balance in it. It moved around her, catching her blond hair and whipping it about her face. It dried the tears on her cheeks. She could feel its cool embrace and it soothed her. Her muscles relaxed and she closed her eyes, a smile gracing her upturned face. Noises in the streets below drifted up to her, but they were vague and distant. There was nothing down there that mattered in this moment. There was only her, and the wind, and the jump. She was almost ready. The adrenalin began to hum through her veins, such a sweet melody. Such a beautiful release of everything.

Lean muscles coiled and readied, a few steps back, the feel of smooth tiles beneath her feet as strong legs carried her forward in a short sprint. Her feet hit the edge and she sprang, arms flung wide as if she could catch wind and fly! The adrenalin sang now, the free fall awakening it fully. There was nothing now, nothing but the screaming wind as it rushed past her ears. Laughter, girlish and high pitched, escaped her.

This was freedom! It was life and love and laughter, sweet and beautiful. And then it was over, the rope pulled her back to reality with its sudden stop.

XoXoX

Her jump over, she found herself back on the roof, sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, and all the problems she had before the jump clambering once more for her attention. She was facing so many new things, new emotions, new friends (Not that she really had many old ones.). Parker wondered if this was how normal people felt. If it was she didn't care for it. The confusion, the uncertainty, the vulnerability. She could live without it all! Then again. To give it all away meant giving away the team. It was just over a year now that they had formed and already they had wormed their way into her twisted little heart and mind.

Parker hadn't realized it at first, hadn't seen the signs that would have warned her it was time to leave. The hints that doors with in her were being slowly unlocked, walls were being knocked down. She was beginning to feel things again. Things she hadn't felt in so long, they were practically non-existent. A lot of it was a jumbled mess of confusion, some of it she understood. Some of it she liked and some of it she didn't.

All of this, though, wasn't what had her fearful to the core. Wasn't what had tears springing to her eyes. She didn't know how to be 'her' anymore. The lone thief who didn't need anyone or anything. Parker had realized something crucial, just after the team had split up temporarily. She didn't know how to be alone anymore, how to rely on herself.

It had taken her time to work it out. Why she felt so sullen and agitated. It had come to her on a job. When she realized she missed the sound of Hardison's voice, all his tech speak. Missed the sound of Sophie's smooth accent. Missed Eliot's growls, and the reassurance he provided, that should anything go wrong he would be there to kick whoever's ass needed kicking. And Nate. She missed him to. He was the closest thing to a father figure she had ever had. And no matter how sideways the con had gone, he always knew how to fix it.

For better or worse, she needed these people in her life. Need wasn't something she had felt in a very long time. So much had changed. And more was sure to follow. There was nothing she could do about it. She just needed to find herself again. Find the new Parker.

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Velvet ~


	2. Something Wrong

Hello again :) I decided that I would turn this into a series of one shots. Probably a lot of them will deal with Parker, but I'm sure a few of the others will be a central focus for some of them. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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"There's something wrong with you." They said it often, especially Eliot.

In the beginning it hadn't bothered her. After all, what did a lone wolf care what anybody thought of her, especially when that someone was a person she wasn't likely to see again. But then Sophie had said it. Nate and Hardison repeated it. The words soon became all too familiar. The more she opened up and let her unique personality shine around them, the more those words came out. And Parker was beginning to become self-conscious about it.

Was there something wrong with her? And if there was, was that really such a bad thing? Parker didn't really know much about people, or the world in general, not unless if involved thieving or jumping off buildings. But wasn't being different and unique a good thing? If everyone was the same, the world would be a boring place. Not to mention how hard it would make stealing if everyone thought the same.

These thoughts and contemplations were starting to wear her down. It didn't take long for the team to find that there really was something wrong with their little thief. None of them were quite sure how to approach the subject. They were all used to the odd and perky Parker, even knew how to deal with her to some degree. A sullen and quiet Parker was a different story.

Parker sat perched on the arm of Nate's couch. One leg was curled under her and the other swung lightly, her toes softly scraping the wood floor that she was staring at listlessly. Eliot spared her a mildly concerned and irritated look from his spot on the couch, he shook his head and turned back to the Hacker's presentation. It seemed to lack its usual flare, Hardison himself kept glancing over in concern at the blond waif. It didn't matter, Nate seemed to be the only one paying attention anyway.

Finally, an exasperated Nate stood up after catching the Grifter and Hitter's stares turning once more to Parker.

"People, this has to stop. Parker, whats wrong?"

At first it appeared that Parker hadn't heard him, as if she was tuning out the whole world, as she sometimes did when things weren't interesting enough to keep her attention

"Par-" Eliot began, reaching out to tap her shoulder.

Parker shied away from his touch and stood up from her perch and Eliot let the rest of her name drop away. The team tracked her with their eyes as she walked around the couch to stand behind it, still not responding. She didn't lift her eyes to look at any of them, instead examining the couches material.

Finally she opened her mouth and spoke, "You know." Was her vague response.

Her four teammates glanced around the room at each other, not sure who her statement was meant to address. Was she singling out one of them in particular? Or all of them together? Or was this just one of the random things she spewed, that she expected them all to understand.

When the silence carried on a little too long, the Hitter spoke up once more.

"Who knows, Darlin'?" Despite the irritation that often comes when dealing with Parker, his voice was gentle.

Nothing ever came from yelling at Parker in irritation...except more irritation.

"You." She replied, to his surprise, and confusion. "And Sophie, and Nate, and Hardison." The thief continued before he even had time to ask what it was he was supposed to know.

"What do we know?" Nate asked patiently.

"That I'm wrong." She replied simply.

No one was sure quite how to take this. It seemed as if the conversation was going around in circles.

"We know somethings wrong baby girl, that's why were asking." Hardison piped in with that tone he reserved only for Parker, when he was trying to explain something she didn't understand.

It seemed to the team that Parker was only restating their question. Telling them what was obvious, something was bothering her. Eliot was the first to understand. Comprehension and then guilt flashed in his eyes.

He remembered a conversation they had had earlier. One in which he had used his favourite phrase when dealing with Parker. _There's something wrong with you._ He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but her reaction had been different. Her smile had faltered and she had fallen silent as the group continued to chatter around her. In fact, if he thought back on it, this had been the reaction the last couple of weeks, whenever that phrased was used by one of them. This wasn't a realization he liked, and guilt seeped through him and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"That's not what she means." He pipped up, looking at the petite blond. "Is it sweetheart?" His tone was soft, apologetic.

Nate seemed to be the only one who had reached Eliot's understanding. Sophie and Hardison were still lost in the woods. It made sense that he would figure it out, he was the mastermind of the team, but Sophie and Hardison hated being clueless.

"Well, will one of you please explain?" The Grifter asked in irritation.

"Yea, we'd like in on this little secret or epiphany, or whatever y'all are having." Hardison added in his two cents.

Parker glanced around the room. Her eyes landing on all of them in turn, and finally fixing on Eliot as he clarified the situation, and a small smile graced her lips. She was happy that he understood. It faltered a moment later and she frowned, wondering it a smile was the wrong response, if it was weird to smile when something was bothering her.

"Parker thinks there's something wrong with her... Because it's what we always tell her."

As realization dawned on the faces of the others, Parker studied them. Confusion displayed itself in her furrowed brows. She didn't understand their expressions. The shock, and something she couldn't identify.

"Oh Parker..." Sophie murmured as she stood and made her way around the couch.

She wrapped her arms around the younger woman tenderly, and Parker let her, still bemused by the turn of things. She had admitted to what they all knew. That something was wrong with her.

"It's a term of endearment. It may not have started out as such, but it is. I guess we all just say it with out thinking. She tried to explain. "It's one of the ways we show affection for you."

"But Eliot only says it when he's upset with me for doing something weird."

Eliot, who had come to stand beside Parker while Sophie spoke, laid a hand gently on their thief's head running it soothingly over her hair.

"No matter how many times I say it, I wouldn't change a hair on your head sweetheart." The Hitter's words, and the hug that followed them, eased Parker's mind the most.

And when Hardison wrapped his arms around her next, commenting loudly, "Eliot's always upset about something." She laughed in good old Parker fashion.

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Velvet~


End file.
